Prediction of Low-Dose Aspirin-Induced Gastric Toxicity Using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy-Based Pharmacometabolomics in Rats

Background: Low-dose aspirin (LDA) is the backbone for secondary prevention of coronary artery disease, although limited by gastric toxicity. This study aimed to identify novel metabolites that could predict LDA-induced gastric toxicity using pharmacometabolomics. Methods: Pre-dosed urine samples were collected from male Sprague-Dawley rats. The rats were treated with either LDA (10 mg/kg) or 1% methylcellulose (10 mL/kg) per oral for 28 days. The rats’ stomachs were examined for gastric toxicity using a stereomicroscope. The urine samples were analyzed using a proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Metabolites were systematically identified by exploring established databases and multivariate analyses to determine the spectral pattern of metabolites related to LDA-induced gastric toxicity. Results: Treatment with LDA resulted in gastric toxicity in 20/32 rats (62.5%). The orthogonal projections to latent structures discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) model displayed a goodness-of-fit (R²Y) value of 0.947, suggesting near-perfect reproducibility and a goodness-of-prediction (Q²Y) of −0.185 with perfect sensitivity, specificity and accuracy (100%). Furthermore, the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) displayed was 1. The final OPLS-DA model had an R²Y value of 0.726 and Q²Y of 0.142 with sensitivity (100%), specificity (95.0%) and accuracy (96.9%). Citrate, hippurate, methylamine, trimethylamine N-oxide and alpha-keto-glutarate were identified as the possible metabolites implicated in the LDA-induced gastric toxicity. Conclusion: The study identified metabolic signatures that correlated with the development of a low-dose Aspirin-induced gastric toxicity in rats. This pharmacometabolomic approach could further be validated to predict LDA-induced gastric toxicity in patients with coronary artery disease.